The Famous Thinkers

Bill Gates

William Henry Gates is a software business magnate from the United States of America. Gates has contributed to the development of the modern microcomputer. Bill Gates was the first person to design a graphic computer interface that could be used by other people and not only by the computer experts. He also founded the Microsoft Corporation, which is the leading software company in the world. Due to the popularity of software from Microsoft, the company experienced a meteoric rise in the 1990s and went on to become one of the biggest companies in the world.

William Gates hails from Seattle, and is of European descent. He was raised in a Christian family and went to a local school. Gates developed interest in computers while he was in grade school. At that time, only a few computers were available, and they had limited accessibility. On payment of a certain fee, an individual was allocated time for use of the computer. Gates and his friends had trouble in purchasing computer time from companies that could afford computers. Due to his attraction to computers and programming, Gates offered maintenance services to the computer time companies rather than use the normal computer time purchase. While he was a teenager, Gates studied computer systems and programming languages used by the companies (Lesinski, 2000). Later, he was hired by school authorities to write computer programs. At that time, William was recognized nationally for his programming genius. While at Harvard University, Gates developed interest in establishing his own enterprise dealing with computer software. He left school to form Microsoft with his friend and partner Paul Allen.

By the age of twenty-five, international business machines and the developers of the modern microcomputer expressed their interest in the services of Microsoft. Gates and Microsoft modified the first disk operating system for a microcomputer. Today, windows operating system runs on most computers around the world, making Gates one of the pioneers of digital revolution (Woog, 1999). By the end of the second millennium, Gates was the richest man in the world. Moreover, he dedicated some of his vast wealth to philanthropic missions. Gates has been recognized as one of the richest people in the world since 1989. He is also reputed to be a shrewd executive. Much of his success comes from his profitable business deals rather than his knowledge of computer programming.

Bill Gates says he was interested programming as he saw the discipline as a way of simplifying complex work. He also worked towards making software that increased the utility of computers produced by manufacturers of electronic products. Critics of Bill Gates claim that he went into the computer business for wealth and not to find solutions for disparities in digital software. Gates developed interest in those projects that were viable businesswise and shunned others. Although Gates played an important role in digital revolution, he could have played a major role in software development than engaging in business plans (Lesinski, 2000).

Martin Luther King Junior

Martin Luther King Junior was a member of the clergy of the Baptist church and a crusader for a free world. He fought for equality until he died in 1968. In addition, he is known for his campaign against racial discrimination and segregation in the 20^th century. He used boycotts to compel the authorities to address activists’ problems. While many people sought Martin’s opinion on the politics in America, he chose not to adopt a partisan stance. During his time, America had a segregation system, which sidelined black people on issues of universal suffrage and labor policies.

Not much is known of Martin Luther King’s childhood, however, it is noted that he was the son of a clergyman. King went through school rather quickly skipping some levels to get to college earlier. He earned degrees in sociology up to the doctorate level. In addition, King studies the concepts of religion and God. At his young age, he had disputed the incontrovertible doctrines of the church and religion as a whole. His political opinions did not favor any ideology. However, he disclosed that the Democratic Party was his favorite party without specifying the reason for this stance.

In the early and middle 1960s, King organized campaigns for civil right and better labor laws for the black community. The campaigns were successful with legislation of civil right laws in the 1960s. Furthermore, King campaigned for the eradication of poverty. He cited this as one of the major reasons why he was against the war in Vietnam (Bennett, 1964).

King based his civil rights campaign on religious grounds and often claimed that he was doing God’s will. Such a perspective of King did not embrace the true idea of liberalism, which advocated for freedom of belief in any faith. King could have related his campaign to liberalism and avoided the influence of Christian denominations. His blending of Christian and civil right activities portrayed the civil rights campaign as a religious movement.

Although King’s campaigns had a significant political significance, he never endorsed any ideology. At one time, the federal government secretly investigated him for communist activism. The feud between King and the federal authorities continued up to the day when he was killed by an assassins’ bullet. In addition, the FBI tried to substantiate claims that King was not a believer of the theories he preached. One setback for King in convincing people of his belief was his scandalous relationships with women despite the fact that he was married (Frady, 2002). Considering King was a clergyman, illicit sexual relationships were outrageous. However, King succeeded in initiating a movement that went on to achieve the rights for black people.